I was a human Tetrimino: Celebrating 30 years of Tetris

This year marks the 30th anniversary of beloved puzzle game and the ultimate handheld addiction known as Tetris. Ubisoft, Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov, and The Tetris Company are already planning to commemorate the occasion with a new iteration of the classic called Tetris Ultimate, set to release next week. However, the celebration isn't stopping there.

This past weekend, there was a more unorthodox method of celebration in mind. This past weekend, 200 Tetris enthusiasts hit Stan Lee's Comikaze in Los Angeles, CA to take part in a Guineess World Record attempt. That record? The longest link of human Tetriminos. Yes, 200 people would pick up Tetrimino costumes from costume manufacturer Rasta Imposta and stand along the L.A. Convention Center concourse hall all linked together. It looked bizarre and strange, but it also looked like a unique opportunity to take part in a pop culture event unlike any other, so I decided to step in and add to that total, making 201 total participants.

I'll say one thing. It was certainly unique. The picture below says it all.

The link of humanity was massive, but it also took a great effort to organize. Comikaze volunteers and Tetris Company reps were on-hand to make sure everyone was linked up, but the process lasted roughly 45 minutes, as stragglers arrived tardy. But as more people showed up, the line just kept getting bigger.

The crowd of two-hundred soon began to grow restless, since the Tetrimino outfits, while sturdy, weren't exactly comfortable. Standing still for more than a half-hour required a fair amount of patience. Before long, though, the airhorns finally blew and everyone was instructed to link up. The link had to last at least a full minute, as Guinness World Record representatives walked across the concourse hall to verify the number of participants, as well as the link stability.

Following the record attempt, everyone marched to the Convention Center lobby to a loud chant of "Tetris." While Tetris Ultimate is meant to appeal to a new generation of Tetris players, there were plenty of old-school players that reminisced over the classic days of the Game Boy and NES originals. It's a reminder that while a new game in the series for modern consoles is fine, Tetris has been bringing people together for the past three decades. Stan Lee's Comikaze is just a small representation of the phenomenon that Pajitnov created 30 years ago.

The world record attempt is currently undergoing final verification by the Guinness World Record committee. To find out if a new record has been made, be sure to follow Tetris on Twitter.

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?